Hecho en Dumbo

Hecho en Dumbo

Hecho en Dumbo’s tacos de costilla — bones and all.Credit
Donna Alberico for The New York Times

HUITLACOCHE, a corn fungus that’s a delicacy in Mexican cuisine, doesn’t always fulfill its funky potential. Too often it’s bland and mushy, a bit of name-dropping on the menu that doesn’t do much on the plate.

Not so at Hecho en Dumbo, which recently moved to the Bowery after three years in Brooklyn. Here the quesadillas de huitlacoche ($10) have a flavor falling somewhere between black trumpet mushrooms and a damp basement. Two fresh tortillas are stuffed with the firm, ash-colored corn and cheese and then folded, crimped and fried until crisp. The success is in the shopping. Unlike most huitlacoche in the United States, it isn’t canned; it’s flash-frozen, from D’Artagnan.

No wonder Hecho en Dumbo had a devoted following in Dumbo, where it shared a space with a bar and cafe. There was also a Scandinavian design store in the back. The setup had its limits.

Now the restaurant has a storefront all to itself, a long room paneled with slats of weathered wood, as if Momofuku Ssam Bar has been left outside over the winter. It’s tasteful and spare, no wrestling posters or grainy photographs of Zapata.

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The dining room at the new Hecho en Dumbo. Credit
Donna Alberico for The New York Times

Hecho en Dumbo finally has a kitchen all to itself, too. Danny Mena, the 30-year-old chef, who cooked at the Modern, is at his best when he takes the big flavors of his native Mexico City and strips a dish down to its fundamentals. He believes in his ingredients. The tacos de costilla ($11) couldn’t be more basic or more satisfying: three house-made corn tortillas topped with a pile of beef cut from seared short ribs, the bones left on the plate for gnawing. The rich meat doesn’t need anything more than a squeeze of lime.

Except maybe the company of a Pacifico ($6). Or even better, a Michelada Cubana ($8), an intense yet refreshing classic from Mexico City: a salt-rimmed glass nearly filled with fresh lime juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire and a dash of soup bouillon on ice is topped off with Bohemia Lager, the bottle served on the side. Take a sip of the concoction, then add more beer. The more you drink, the less you pucker.

Sometimes Mr. Mena runs into trouble when his cooking is more modern than Mexico City. The fried soft-shell crabs ($15) on a fussy saffron-yogurt slaw with pickled ramps is saved by the spice from habañero chilies. But the chicharrón de puerco with spring-pea flan ($16) is more looks than flavor. There’s an argument to be made that pork doesn’t belong in a ring mold.

Pork does belong in the pozole rojo ($11), a rich, brothy soup with hominy and hunks of meat. It’s a generous one-bowl meal, and here Mr. Mena’s refined touches clarify the dish. All of the elements are distinct, the Berkshire pork playing against the side seasonings of dried oregano and fresh radish cut into batons.

Perhaps the biggest change at the new Hecho en Dumbo are the hours. Now the place is open during the day — breakfast dishes and sandwiches share the menu with holdovers from dinner — and is so subdued it’s serene.

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Credit
Donna Alberico for The New York Times

It’s a different story at night, when the bar is crowded with groups waiting for the one late friend so that they can be seated. Conversation competes with music, and the staff seems determined that the music win.

Better to give yourself over to it. Order a tamarind margarita ($12) and tostadas de ceviche ($9), raw halibut with guacamole on tiny tortillas. Or ensalada tricolor ($6), a salad made with radish, jicama, carrot, cucumber, mint and mango. Or queso fundido de chorizo ($9), housemade sausage topped with a thick layer of cheese that’s browned under a broiler until melted and crusty. Food like this is worth standing and shouting for.